Correction: An earlier headline on this story referred to robotics and other tech training OTC plans to offer. Those programs will be offered at a new center in Springfield, not at the Republic center.

Ozarks Technical Community College will break ground next month on a new center in Republic.

Located near the western edge of Republic, along U.S. 60, the new center is expected to open by August 2020.

Voters agreed to extend an existing 5-cent tax levy and approve a new 5-cent tax levy per $100 assessed valuation through 2038. The increase is expected to generate $3.3 million in new local tax revenue annually.

“We told voters if they approved tax levies back in April we would build a center in Republic,” said OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon, in a news release. “The construction of the OTC Republic Center is another example of the progress as promised commitment that the college made to taxpayers.”

The OTC Board of Trustees voted Monday to unanimously approve the cost of the new project. The board also hired Rich Kramer Construction to build the 30,000-square-foot facility, which had previously been designed.

The Republic center, located northeast of Colorado Avenue on the west side of Republic near the Christian County line, will be the college's sixth campus. In addition to the main campus in Springfield, there are destinations in Christian County, Hollister, Lebanon and Waynesville.

Scenes of construction work taken on Monday, Nov. 19, 2018.(Photo: Kristina Bridges-Templeton/OTC)

OTC will build the center on a 7.69-acre property donated nearly four years ago by one of the Lester E. Cox companies consisting of the Bussey, Cox and Lipscomb families. At the time, the flat property was believed to be worth $1 million, although an exact figure has not been released.

In honor of the gift, the building will be named the Bussey-Cox-Lipscomb Hall.

What impact will the center have?

Higdon said increased funding through the higher tax levy will help OTC pay for training more displaced workers, expand high-demand technical and health programs and establish a new Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Technology in Springfield.

This fall, representatives from OTC, Missouri State University and the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce visited centers in the southeast part of the U.S. to help flesh out the approach that will work best in the Ozarks.

Higdon said the center will strengthen existing partnerships between higher education institutions and businesses and industries as well as forge new ones.

"We have all kind of ideas where we can connect up," he said.

Scenes of construction work taken on Monday, Nov. 19, 2018.(Photo: Kristina Bridges-Templeton/OTC)

Establishing the new 50,000-square-foot center is expected to take time because it will require a substantial investment of $20 million or more.

Higdon said OTC and its partners will talk to lawmakers about the investment during the upcoming legislative session. They will seek a mix of public and private funding at the state and federal levels, including bonds and grants.

The space will allow OTC to train students in advanced technical fields such as robotics, 3D printing and mechatronics — a science field that combines electronics and various forms of engineering.

As that plan is developed, OTC is moving ahead with establishing the agriculture turf and landscape management program — offered, in a limited way, on the landlocked Springield campus, and at the Richwood Valley campus located between Nixa and Ozark in Christian County.

"The neat thing about this is that we've been so limited on this campus," Higdon said of the Springfield campus. "We've had so little space."

Hal Higdon(Photo: File photo)

The funding for that work, at just over $2 million, was approved earlier this fall. It will include classroom space, a wet soils laboratory, greenhouse, storage and equipment.